The use of stents in bodily lumen is well known. A stent is typically delivered in an unexpanded state to a desired location in a bodily lumen and then expanded. The stent may be expanded via the use of mechanical device such as a balloon or the stent may be self-expanding.
Because a stent often must be delivered through tortuous anatomy, it is desirable for the stent to be flexible and to have a low profile. In order to provide a low profile the stent is often crimped onto a balloon or catheter before entering a bodily lumen. In general, however, as a stent is crimped in order to minimize its profile, the likelihood of overlapping portions of the stent increases.
There remains a need for a stent having a low crimped profile without overlapping portions of the stent.
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Without limiting the scope of the invention in any way, the invention is briefly summarized in some of its aspects below. Additional details of the invention and/or additional embodiments of the invention may be found in the Detailed Description of the Invention below.
A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification is provided as well for the purposes of complying with 37 C.F.R. 1.72.